Semi Finals and Finals

[SJS]

Well done India, how romantic.

@ all the people who while the game was played. kept counting India out. Seems like they dominated.

I am not sure if India dominated. Australia kept them in check till Yuvraj and Uthapps burst out. Then Australia were going along merrily till as late as the end of the 17th over.

With 30 to get in 3 overs with six wickets in hand (Clarke and Hussey at the crease) my drink had suddenly gone flat.

On top of that Harbhajan was to bowl one over and RP the other. The third bowler options were Sehwag who had gone for 20 in his only over and Joginder who had gone for 30 in his two. No it wasn't looking too good for India at that stage and I would say the blows were evenly traded and matched between the two sides till Harbhajan bowled that 18th over for 3 runs (and the wicket of Clarke) and Rp bowled the 19th for 5.

Only then India seemed back with a chance. Even then with Joginder whose previous over had gone for 17 it was a time to keep fingers and toes crossed. but the drink had got some fizz back

 

[SJS]

Surely only bashing India when they lose would be worse. Gloating is far more annoying than just being consistently critical.

Anyway, I didn't see the game, but it sounds like India played some good cricket, and Australia not so much. Looking forward to the summer ahead even more now.

Oh you missed a greatgame. I realise it appears even greater to an Indian like me. But really the cricketwas of high order from both sides. They kept going at each other from the first round to the last with fabulous energy with no one backing down for even a little bit.

Even someone like me who isn't the greatest fan of this format was absolutely transfixed by contest.

For Australia, I think the fall from the high standards, he himself set not so long back, oh Hussey must count as one of the major disappointments. He seems to be a faint shadow of the man who took the game by storm.

For the sake of cricket fans around the world, irrespective of affiliations, I hope he gets back to his best. The game needs talents like his.

 

[honestbharani]

And we came out after both of those losses and played some of the most comprehensive cricket of the tournament. India played better than us tonight sure, but are people seriously going to start taking Twenty20 as a benchmark for where teams sit in world cricket?

yes, in terms of Twenty20 standings, THIS is the tournament that matters and India played better than Australia in that. And I don't see anyone here so far saying otherwise...

 

[Jono]

LOL.

The fact that anyone believes an Indian could be cooler than Samuel L Jackson is proposterous.

Samuel is the man, no doubt about it, but I'm struggling to remember the last time he hit six 6s in an over, and then smashed 70 (30) in his next game.

And I'm pretty sure Yuvraj could take down a snake full of planes too. He's just never had the chance yet

 

[honestbharani]

Okay. Fair enough. But these false delusions of grandeur you're setting for your cricket team may come back and hurt you in the not too distant future. Just a suggestion.

ALL HAIL THE NEW INDIA! WORLD CHAMPIONS AND GREATEST TEAM IN HISTORY!

What grandeur? What is your problem? India played brilliant cricket to defeat Australia, who played pretty well themselves.. That is why this match was called as a "quality" match... This produced as much "qualtiy" cricket as can be reasonably expected within the parameters of Twenty20 cricket and at the end of it, India were victorious. This was a team that was written off in this competition by virtually everyone, including me and some other well known Indian members here in this very forum. They are playing without 4 of their seniormost players and a couple of them were carrying niggles. That they still managed to play well enough to defeat Australia is, of course, cause for celebration. We will worry about the tests and ODIs in time when they come along but why should the fact that we may be beaten by Australia in those series stop us from celebrating THIS win?


Seriously, if this is the way you are gonna handle Aussie losses, I just hope they can keep winning a lot like they have been doing, just for your sake...

 

[honestbharani]

Signs of improvement? Not really. Yuvraj batted well and Sreesanth bowled well. I already knew both could do that before the game even started. Your running between the wickets was poor today, and your fielding was average. Sreesanth, Yuvraj and some very poor cricket shots by Haddin helped you win the match.

I don't think this match changes anything.

it does show that if Haddin is your next best bet as batsman, you have even more problems than the Indian side.


If you say that India played poor cricket, then it is obvious that Australia played poorer, but of course, it doesn't matter, because it is JUST Twenty20 cricket... And yet somehow, their losses in this very form and their subsequent wins after that shows that it FIRES them up. So they did care enough for the game to FIRE them up and yet they lost to India...


Accept facts, buddy... Both teams took this seriously. This IS a WC and there IS pressure, not like Test matches but I would bet it had as much pressure as an ODI... India had an inexperienced side and Turb was saying that this team remained calm under pressure, which is what they did. Every game creates pressure situations... It doesn't matter if they are ODIs, tests or Twenty20s and sides have to handle them. The pressure in test cricket is different because you have to do well for a longer period of time before you get out of it and as such, it tests your cricket skills more than these other forms but to say that India DIDN'T remain calm under pressure in this last match....... you are juz kidding yourself, there, mate...

 

[SJS]

What grandeur? What is your problem? India played brilliant cricket to defeat Australia, who played pretty well themselves.. That is why this match was called as a "quality" match... This produced as much "qualtiy" cricket as can be reasonably expected within the parameters of Twenty20 cricket and at the end of it, India were victorious. This was a team that was written off in this competition by virtually everyone, including me and some other well known Indian members here in this very forum. They are playing without 4 of their seniormost players and a couple of them were carrying niggles. That they still managed to play well enough to defeat Australia is, of course, cause for celebration. We will worry about the tests and ODIs in time when they come along but why should the fact that we may be beaten by Australia in those series stop us from celebrating THIS win?


Seriously, if this is the way you are gonna handle Aussie losses, I just hope they can keep winning a lot like they have been doing, just for your sake...

Give up HB. This guy is incorrigible. But he is an exception I think. Majority of Australians here are great sports. I think its best to ignore him since he isn't going to even start thinking about what he could have said differently.

If a nights sleep hasnt done him any good. Nothing will. Let him be.

 

[honestbharani]

Amazing how dumb some people are.

I'm not saying Indians can't be happy for the win. I'm not saying that at all. I just can't believe some of them think their cricket side has improved out of sight and are just so magnificent now that they've made the final of this tournament. Turbinator seems to think he has a world champion side now. And you seem to think Dhoni is some kind of wonder-captain.

no, he didn't... REad his post again and tell me where he said or even suggested that.

 

[honestbharani]

Give up HB. This guy is incorrigible. But he is an exception I think. Majority of Australians here are great sports. I think its best to ignore him since he isn't going to even start thinking about what he could have said differently.

If a nights sleep hasnt done him any good. Nothing will. Let him be.

I hope Bracken (or whoever that poster was) who took exception to me replying in kind to some nonsense sprouted out by sst in that other thread about Murali reads this thread....


Then maybe he will understand why I went overboard with my reactions to him..


Will stop now, SJS.

 

[honestbharani]

Sorry for calling you an Indian. Turbinator:

"I'll tell you one thing. Not only has this young side improved our fielding and running between the wickets and enthusiasm etc etc.

But it has showed, that this is not the same Indian team that melts under pressure. Instead, they remain calm and composed under pressure situations and deliver."

And SJS said Dhoni's captaincy is gonna be the best thing for Indian cricket or something.

no he said "Dhoni being captain MAY be the best thing for INdia"


I hope I don't have to explain what that word MAY means...


sorry, SJS, juz couldn't resist.

 

[adharcric]

This is pretty much exactly what I've been arguing and I've been shouted down for it.

You haven't done a good job of conveying that argument. Look, Indian fans are getting excited because a) India finally won a crucial match against a strong side under pressure b) for a change, India bowled and fielded quite well c) everyone on the field looked passionate, energetic and full of team spirit. Does that make India a better one-day or test side? Not really, they are different forms of the game and we will only improve in those formats when we do well in those formats (obviously). That said, this certainly represents an improvement because the qualities that I mentioned above (especially winning big matches under pressure) are very valuable, regardless of the format. You will always have fans getting very excited and exaggerating a little in such moments (didn't really have too much of that actually), but you should be able to perceive that. You can make your point without acting like a prick and give the winning team its due credit instead of making statements like "India didn't really field well or run well" and "you'll find out that India actually suck when they play Australia in REAL cricket, because Australia will be fired up by this meaningless match ..." Oh yeah, mentioning Australia in every other argument sort of makes it obvious that you're a poor sport, not a casual critic.

 

[alternative]

@ alternative, Mate now seriously you don't think India and Pakistan's success in T20 would suddenly make them better odi and test teams, i mean haven't India lost an odi series just recently (and that to against England of all the teams)!
Even if Australia were under-cooked for this tournament, if this would have been an Odi tournament they would have still walked away with the series, its just that T20 brings all the teams to a plain-level-field so anybody can beat anyone, but that would change too as teams play more and more of T20 cricket and the better teams would move ahead of the weaker sides when they gain more experience of this format of the game.

Mate i never said India is the best team or anything, what i was trying to say is that we played better on the day and walked away with the win. Test matches and OD's are completely 2 different things, so i won't say that India winning the semi final match against australia will make them a better teat or an OD team, its just 2 different things. Having said that India can take a lot out of this match. I.e: Confidence.

 

[honestbharani]

I knew about the million dollars but the Porsche WOW.

Modi must have done it right there since he is with the team.

dunno abt this, surely the prizes could have waited till the tourney was over??


I still fear the worst for India in the finals. It is not like us to play with such intensity for so many games in a row. The token flat performance has to come in and I really really do fear that it will happen in the finals.

 

[adharcric]

dunno abt this, surely the prizes could have waited till the tourney was over??


I still fear the worst for India in the finals. It is not like us to play with such intensity for so many games in a row. The token flat performance has to come in and I really really do fear that it will happen in the finals.

Have some faith in your team. Quite frankly, I can't see this team being flat and listless - not with characters such as Yuvraj, Harbhajan, Sreesanth, RPS and Dhoni in the mix. Plenty of youth in there as well, don't count on it.

 

[honestbharani]

I know this is fairly juvenile, but still, has Raghav made an appearance out of curiosity? CBF going through what appears to be a war between the Indian posters and showsidetim.

was that on purpose?

 

[sideshowtim]

dunno abt this, surely the prizes could have waited till the tourney was over??


I still fear the worst for India in the finals. It is not like us to play with such intensity for so many games in a row. The token flat performance has to come in and I really really do fear that it will happen in the finals.

I agree. Why award the team before they've actually won anything?

You're awarding mediocrity that way.

 

[honestbharani]

I agree. Why award the team before they've actually won anything?

You're awarding mediocrity that way.

THAT is the problem with administration in India and Pak. We award people before hand. These awards can surely come after the tournament, regardless of which team wins the final?


It is not us CW fans who are going overboard, but I guess some boards are going overboard with rewards and stuff.

 

[SJS]

dunno abt this, surely the prizes could have waited till the tourney was over??

I think they want to make a statement. Something like. "Great job. This is the spirit we want. Its not the end of the world if you lose in the finals. You have done us proud by reaching there. Just keep playing like this and hope for the best. If you still lose, we are okay with that"

If that was the intent it had to be done before the finals. I think thats not bad.

Modi (the most powerful man in BCCI after Powar) being present in South Africa must have helped take the decision so quickly.

I still fear the worst for India in the finals. It is not like us to play with such intensity for so many games in a row. The token flat performance has to come in and I really really do fear that it will happen in the finals.

Thats the pessimist who lives in all of us, more in Indians because our teams have failed at the final hurdle in the past. I am sure everyone of us feels the same to some extent even those who will scream India is the greatest.

Lets just keep our fingers crossed and be happy in the knowledge that if ever India is going to win another world cup they will have to reach the final first and here they are.

Surely the chances of winning now are better now than before the semi final

So take of your shoes and cross your toes first and then your fingers and wait. Dont forget to pour yourself a tankard of bear first

 

[pasag]

Sigh, anyways.

As has been said, was a really good match that had everything and I don't feel Australia should be too disappointed there, we played well but India played better and those are the best sporting matches. Sreesanth was excellent as was Yuvraj for the Indians and you'd think they were both the deciding factors that got India across the line as well as lifting the rest of the side.

Nothing much to worry about for Australia, if anything the limited overs bowling that has been much criticised since 434 has been splendid all tournament with Clark really showing he can cut it in this format. Hope he carries this in to the ODIs in India. Johnson also has been very impressive and hopefully he'll go from strength to strength. Getting to a semi final after the start we had was still a top achievement and full credit to Australia for making such strong and professional comebacks. Just wasn't enough in the end. Should make for great battles ahead in the ODI series as well.

The final should be a cracker though, can't wait. Both would be great stories if either won, Pakistan overcoming their perennial troubles especially with Akhtar pre-tournament and the ODI WC not that long ago and India with no coach, no warm ups and all their stars sitting out. Will be happy either way tbh.

 

[JASON]

Congratulations India

on a deserved win....now other Teams can look at India and Pakistan and learn that the Aussies can be beaten provided the players go with positive frame of mind and give their best without getting carried away by preconceived hype ..... And also their(Australia's) old stalwarts are no longer there...so they are beatable....provided Teams and players play positively....


The Final should be Brilliant....The best Teams in 20/20 have reached the Finals and I am so pleased....